1) Yes.
2) Even if he did, he didn't see much of Gajeel, and I don't remember Natsu really doing anything new so he'd still have to deal with the "New Super Move of the Arcâ„¢", and since the last fight is supposed to be (apparently) all vs all he'll only be a minor deterrent until his chosen 1v1 trades off.
3) I'm sure the dragons had something to do with the siphon's construction, or the catalyst for the dragons attacking or maybe even both.
4) I still say it's Sasuke.
Binbougami Ga: ************* just got real. [/spoiler]
Edited, Aug 31st 2012 1:53pm by lolgaxe